Strong Woman Do Bong Soon Review

Title: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Thriller

Episodes: 16

Broadcast Period: Feb-2017 to April-2017

Cast: Park Bo Young, Park Hyung Shik, Ji Soo, Ahn Woo Yeon, Shim Hye Jin, Yoo Jae Myung, Jeon Seok Ho,

Do Bong-soon (Park Bo Young) was born with superhuman strength. Her strength is hereditary and passed along only to the women in her family. Her dream is to create a video game with herself as the main character. She desperately wants to become a willowy and elegant woman, which is the ideal type of her crush, In Guk Doo (Ji Soo), a police officer. Thanks to her strength, she gets the job of a bodyguard, to a rich heir Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik), the CEO of a gaming company, Ainsoft. Contrary to Guk Doo, Min Hyuk is an odd man who is playful, a little spoiled, and has no regard for rules, and dislikes policemen. He has recently received anonymous threats, blackmails, and has even been stalked at an occasion. One day, a series of kidnapping cases break in Dobong-dong, the district Bong Soon lives in, and she is determined to catch the culprit after her friend was targeted. Under the help and training from Min Hyuk, she manages to control her strength to use it for good causes.

A light drama with a lot of comedy. Although I started it being skeptic, it kind of grew on me. I loved the melo romance, and the funny background story. The new aspect about her being so strong actually worked out to be a really good idea. And of course Park Bo Young did a lovely job with this kind of carachter, it was a little bit similar to the one in Oh My Ghostess, but there is a fresh element. Although I looked forward to Ji Soo’s part, it didn’t appeal to me as much, he is a good actor and everything, but it was out of context. And of course Park Hyung Shik, he did a decent job, but I think what stood out the most here is how he carefully took the chemistry between the leads to another level. It felt like he did all the job. To sum it up, a very recommendable drama for this summer.

☆☆☆☆  / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥(1/2) / 3 (1/2) out of 5 hearts

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryou Review

Title: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryou

Genre: Historical, Romance, Time-travel 

Episodes: 20

Broadcast Period: Aug-2016 to Nov-2016

Cast: Lee Jun Ki, IU, Kang Ha Neul, Hong Jong Hyun, Kim San Ho, Yoon Sun Woo, Byun Baek Hyun, Nam Joo Hyuk, Ji Soo, 

During a total eclipse of the sun, a 25-year-old 21st century woman, Go Ha Jin (IU), is transported back in time to Goryeo Dynasty. She wakes up in the year 941, in the body of 16-year-old Hae Soo and there, she encounters the many royal princes of the ruling family. She initially falls in love with the gentle and warm 8th Prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha Neul), and later Wang So (Lee Joon Gi), the fearsome 4th Prince who hides his face behind a mask and is given the derogatory label "wolf dog". Meanwhile, rivalry and politics ensue among the princes, in a fight for the throne, as Hae Soo finds herself unwittingly caught between it all.

Throughout the drama I had a lot of problems with the plot, like major problems. One of them is the total neglecting of Go Ha jin/Hae su is from the future. We can’t really categorize this as a time-travelling drama, since the only factor about it is in the first episode where she went back in time. After that… NOTHING. Some other problems came along too, but somehow when I finished the drama, and started thinking about it, I couldn’t have felt more satisfied and in love with it. There is something about it, that kept me watching till the end, and got me hooked week after week, just waiting for a new episode. So yes, those problems I had just vanished after a while, and Moon Lovers got a special place in my heart. The actors were all so good! I loved them all, I had some problems with one of them (Ehm-Baekhyun-Ehm), but he matured throughout the drama and some character growths. Lee Jun Ki and IU became one of my favorite drama-couple this year, they had a magical chemistry that’s rare to find, maybe it’s all the tragic, dark and bloodthirsty surroundings that enhanced it all. This drama is also another drama I would recommend to everyone, saeguk fan or not! 

☆☆☆☆☆ / 5 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥♥ / 5 out of 5 hearts

Page Turner Review

Title: Page Turner

Genre: Drama, Music

Episodes: 3

Broadcast Period: Mar-2016 to Apr-2016

Cast: Kim So Hyun, Ji Soo, Shin Jae Ha, Ye Ji Won, Hwang Young Hee, Kim Dong Hee, Kim Min Sang

Yoo Seul (Kim So Hyun) is a student of an art high school. She is a talented pianist and who won various contests, but is driven by her mother. Yoo Seul's mother wanted to become a pianist when she was younger, however she failed to do so, and that's why she's forcing her dream on Yoo Seul. One day, Yoo Seul has an accident, which results in that Yoo Seul may never play the piano again. With the help of her friend Cha Shik (Ji Soo) and Yoo Seul's rival Jin Mok (Shin Jae Ha), Yoo Seul begins to live a new life.

I did not expect to laugh as much as I did in a drama about such serious, earnest themes. But the drama has a playful tone to it, where characters in the world are very serious, but we’re able to see the irony and the humor in the moments. Man Cha Shik is such a great character. I mean, they’re all good characters with lots of potential, but Cha-shik is so lovable right away. He’s delightfully dim, but I like that it doesn’t necessarily prevent the depth in his character. The directing/editing/cinematography was on point up till the end. I would give this full hearts but I took off half a heart point because I had certain expectations of the ending that weren’t met.

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Sassy Go Go Review

Title: Sassy Go Go
AKA: Cheer up!
Genre: School, Drama, Romance
Episodes: 12
Broadcast Period: Oct-2015 to Nov-2015
Cast: Jung Eun Ji, Kim Min Ho, Lee Won Geun, Ji Soo, Chae Soo Bin, Shin Jae Ha, Kang Min Ah, Cha Hak Yun,

Set at the elite Sevit High School in Seoul, the drama follows the lives of five students as they attempt to survive in a vicious environment where academic elitism takes place. Kang Yeon do (Jung Eun Ji) is the leader of an outcast street dance club "Real King", a group of students who band together because of their poor academic performance, whereas Kim Yeol (Lee Won Geun) is the President of "Baek Ho", an elite club comprised of students from the top 5 percent. When the two clubs are forcibly merged to create a cheerleading squad, the two put their differences aside for the benefit of their clubs.

This started out really well, I fell in love with it almost instantly. Who can say no to those handsome guys! However I guess they blinded me for a moment, because after a while (not too long, after all it’s only 12 episodes) you kind of feel that the drama has fallen into a cycle. It keeps repeating itself constantly. Same problem, different characters. It was a well-produced drama, I liked the cinematography, (the school was so fancy!), all the actors lived up to their potential. There were a lot of newbies, but you couldn’t tell that it was their debut drama, I guess the standards for actors are rising in Korea :b Eun Ji did really good, I liked her very much in this drama, to be honost I’ve liked her since Reply 1997 and watches all her dramas, she never disappoints! As for the plot, it could have been better, that was the only thing that takes the drama down. Sometimes even though how good the actors are, they can’t save a boring plot. Overall, I want to recommend this, but I’ll have to warn you that the story can get on your nerve!

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts